Melanoma Center

Patient Experience

IL-2 is an inpatient therapy. On your first day, you will check in with Admitting on the first floor of the Milstein Hospital Building (177 Fort Washington Avenue). Once admitted, you will have blood drawn for routine tests and an electrocardiogram will be conducted. You will then receive your paperwork and be directed to the 6 Hudson North Unit on the sixth floor of the hospital.

At 6 Hudson North, the floor clerk will direct you to your room and introduce you to a nurse who will record your vital signs and conduct a brief medical interview. The nurse will also provide you with a small pouch to wear around your neck. This pouch contains a box that is connected by wires to adhesive patches on your chest. It enables the dedicated Telemetry Service to monitor your heart rate and rhythm at all times during your stay.

Once you are settled into your room, one of the IL-2 Unit doctors will stop by to answer any questions and to discuss the placement of the Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) line. The PICC line is a small, flexible tube inserted into a vein in your arm and threaded upwards towards your heart. The line is used to administer IL-2.

Two members of the PICC Team-a dedicated unit of nurses trained to place PICC lines-will come to your room and insert the PICC. Once the PICC Team has completed placing the line, your physician will be notified and you will be taken to the third floor of the hospital for a chest X-ray.

The doctors will review the chest X-ray to ensure that your PICC line is correctly positioned. Once the PICC placement is approved, you will begin to receive your IL-2 therapy.

Most patients are able to complete a cycle of IL-2 therapy within one week. You are advised to rest at home for an additional week after you leave the hospital. A follow-up visit will be scheduled for two weeks following the completion of your therapy.

Our multidisciplinary team is experienced in helping patients and their families cope with the physical and emotional effects of treatment.